Match of Titans (or 'A Hearing Interrupted')
by Marwana
Summary: What if it wasn't Dumbledore who entered the dungeon room and named himself Witness of Defence during the hearing in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix?


_This idea kept running around in my head: what if it wasn't Dumbledore who came into the dungeon room during the hearing in Order of the Phoenix? So I decided to write this down..._

_Some of the parts are taken from the book (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) and some of the decrees I came up with myself (and I came up with what the decrees actually mean because I couldn't find it...)_

_This is not to be taken serious... I didn't write it to be taken serious anyway..._

_**Summary**: what if it wasn't Dumbledore who came into the dungeon room during the hearing in Order of the Phoenix?_

_**Warnings**: No warnings for this story._

_**Disclaimer**: I don't own the rights to Harry Potter._

_Enjoy!_

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Harry sat nervously down into the ominous chair. The chains rattled but they didn't bind him and for that he was grateful.  
The looks he was given by the many formally robed people seated on the tribune made him already feel like some kind of criminal or animal, being bound by magical chains would have made it only worse.

"Disciplinary hearing of the twelfth of August," Fudge said in a voice that rang through the dungeon room and Percy – who had been poised with a quill over a piece of parchment – started to write, "into offences committed under the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery and the International Statute of Secrecy by Harry-James Potter, resident at number four, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey. Interrogators: Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister for Magic; Amelia Susan Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; Dolores Jane Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister. Court Scribe, Percy Ignatius Weasley. The charges-"

"Witness of defence: Tom Marvolo Riddle junior," a smooth baritone sounded from behind Harry and Harry turned around as fast as he could while seated. Only to stop in astonishment at what he saw.  
The man who walked calmly towards him had neatly combed, dark brown hair peppered with grey. His sharp eyes were a dark hue though Harry couldn't see what colour they were in the badly lit dungeon. His face was aristocratic with thin, sculpted eyebrows, high cheekbones, well-formed lips, a strong jaw and a straight nose. There were some wrinkles, crowfeet and laugh lines but he appeared younger than he should be. He wore fine, green robes with a dark green dress-shirt and black dress-pants underneath. His shoes were made from black and polished leather.  
He appeared human and normal, something he would never have associated with Voldemort.

Voldemort – _Riddle_ – kept walking until he was standing slightly in front of Harry and facing the Wizengamot.  
"And you are?" Fudge snapped.  
"Lord Potter's witness of defence," Riddle drawled smoothly.  
"He is no lord," Fudge protested loudly and some of the members of the Wizengamot nodded in agreement.  
"Ah but he is," Riddle said, "you see, only adults – meaning anyone above the seventeen or anyone emancipated – are to be trailed by the Wizengamot. The moment you decided to interrogate my client before this body you emancipated him. The Potters are – while not ancient – a noble family making my client a lord as soon as he is of age or emancipated."

Fudge sputtered loudly but Riddle ignored him as he raised an eyebrow and said, "The charges?"  
Fudge rustled his notes for a couple of seconds before he finally extricated a piece of parchment from the pile and read loudly, "the charges are as followed: the accused did knowingly, deliberately and in full awareness of the illegality of his actions, having received a previous written warning from the Ministry of Magic on a similar charge, produce a Patronus Charm in a Muggle-inhabited area, in the presence of a Muggle, on the second of August at twenty-three minutes past nine, which constitutes an offence under Paragraph C of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, 1875, and also under Section 13 of the International Confederation of Warlocks' Statute of Secrecy."

Fudge closed his mouth, placed the piece of parchment down and adjusted his pile of parchment before he looked up.  
"Are you Harry James Potter of number four, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey?" He asked Harry with a dark glare.  
"Please note that the Minister is unwilling to use the accused's official title," Riddle drawled with a sneer.

Fudge once again sputtered but Riddle ignored him and said, "Before we continue with this… _farce_ of a trail let me ask a couple of questions first. Of the record, of course."  
Madam Bones looked up and said, "May I ask what you mean with 'farce', mister Riddle?"  
"I'm glad you ask," Riddle almost purred, "if one were to check the many law books our nation has produced and the many case files the Ministry contains one will notice that this is the first time a person has been dragged before the Wizangamot for using magic as a minor while being near a Muggle. So why was my client dragged before this body?"  
Madam Bones' eyebrows shot up until they could be seen above her monocle.

"And if one were to take a good look at the charges one would see that my client was charged with knowingly using magic in front of a muggle. Not once were the words 'minor' used in association with my client except when Paragraph C of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, 1875, was mentioned. My client _was_ a minor when he used the Patronus Charm in front of a muggle," Riddle lectured, "not only that but our esteemed minister mentioned Section 13 of the International Confederation of Warlocks' Statute of Secrecy. This section mentions clearly that a magical being is not allowed to use magic in front of a muggle who has no knowledge of magic. In this case my clients used magic in front of his_ muggle cousin_ who has known about magic for at least four years. So my client can only be charged with using magic as a minor while knowing that he isn't allowed to use magic, something which should be handled _only_ by the Head of Department of Magical Law Enforcement. So once again: why was my client dragged before this body?"

"The second thing I would like to point out is that our esteemed minister was about to start this hearing without a Witness of Defence being present," Riddle continued, "according to Paragraph B of the Decree for Ministerial and Wizengamot Hearing's, 1797, there should always be at least one Interrogator and one Witness of Defence. The fact that our esteemed minister neglected to make sure that my client had a Witness of Defence makes this hearing invalid. Which means that all of the charges against my client should be dropped immediately as stated in Paragraph B of the Decree for Ministerial and Wizengamot Hearing's, 1797."

"And last but not least," Riddle said as he looked towards the Minister sternly, "the Wizengamot has the task to make sure that both the accused and his or her Witness of Defence is on time. If the time of the hearing has been changed than the head of the hearing has to make sure that the accused and his or her Witness of Defence is aware of this _in time_. During the case of Marion Duiless in 1934 Paragraph K of the Decree for Ministerial and Wizengamot Hearing's, 1797, was added when Marion Duiless had to spend longer in Azkaban than was necessary awaiting her trail because of neglect by the then Head of the Wizengamot. This Paragraph states that the time and date can be changed up to eight hours before the hearing. After that changing the time of the hearing is an offence of itself."

Fudge started to protest but Riddle raised his hand and whirled around until he was looking Harry in the eye, "Lord Potter can you tell me when exactly you left for this hearing?"  
Harry blinked at him as he thought, "we left for the Ministry at seven o'clock."  
"At what time did you arrive at the Ministry?" Riddle asked him.  
"A little before eight," Harry said confused.  
"And when were you told that the time of the hearing has been changed and by whom?" Riddle continued his interrogation.  
"Five past eight," Harry answered, "and by a man named Perkins."  
"So let me get this straight," Riddle drawled, "you left for the Ministry at seven o'clock, which was two hours before the actual hearing should have started. But when you arrived – still on time for your hearing, mind you – the persons who could have informed you of the change in time – like the man who checked your wand – didn't. You only heard about the change in time five minutes after the hearing would have started from a man who works at a department which has nothing to do with said hearing. Am I correct?"  
"Yes," Harry answered softly.

"If a letter had been sent out eight hours before the hearing would have started – meaning the letter should have been sent _before_ twelve o'clock last night – my client would have been on time," Riddle drawled haughtily, "this hearing is not only invalid it is also on two point against our very own law."

Fudge, who had started to turn redder and redder with every word Riddle said, finally exploded. He slammed the small wooded gavel on the desk in front of him and hollered, "That's enough! I don't know who you are and what you think you are doing but _I_ am the Minister!"  
"I don't see how that is important here," Riddle said with disdain, "unless you mean to say that the Minister of Magic is above the rules, in which case you would be a dictator and chargeable of misuse of power and knowingly, deliberately and in full awareness of the illegality of your actions breaking some of our fundamental laws."  
Fudge opened and closed his mouth a couple of times in a bad imitation of a fish before he managed to say, "yo-, wha-?"

"That's quite enough," Madam Bones finally said as she rose from her seat and took the gavel from Fudge, "Lord Potter is hereby emancipated due to the fact that our esteemed minister Cornelius Oswald Fudge decided to interrogate Lord Harry James Potter before the Wizengamot."  
She slammed the gavel once on the desk.

"This hearing is declared invalid due to the disregard of certain decrees and the accused is cleared of all charges against him," she continued and she once again slammed the gavel on the desk.

"Lastly, because of the fact that our esteemed minister has gone against two decrees and several laws the Wizangamot would like to offer their sincere apologies to Lord Potter," she said as she gazed sternly towards Fudge, "an official apology will be printed in tomorrow's paper and an official investigation will be started against our esteemed minister."

"Case closed!" She said loudly and she slammed her gavel one last time against the desk.

Harry gaped open-mouthed at the stern looking woman before he turned towards smug looking man next to him.  
He closed his mouth and swallowed before he finally managed to ask, "Why did you do it?"  
Riddle turned towards him and purred darkly, "whatever could you be talking about?"  
"You know what I mean," Harry said hotly, "why did you help me? Wouldn't it have been easier to kill me if I didn't have my wand?"  
"Ah yes," Riddle drawled amused, "I actually came to the Ministry to pick something up but I decided to see what the fuss was about when I caught word of your little hearing. Once I heard what it was about I decided to see if I could cause some disquiet. Divide and conquer is still the best way to go."  
He turned to look at Fudge who was being accosted by Wizengamot members.  
"It worked far better than I had expected," Riddle continued satisfied as he watched the man bluster about.

He turned and walked away a couple of seconds later, only to stop when he was just two steps away from Harry.  
"Oh and Potter," he said, "whoever told you that it would have been easier for me to kill you while you didn't have your wand lied. Even if you do have your wand it will still be easy. Have a nice day."  
And he continued walking until he disappeared completely out of Harry's line of sight.

Harry just sat there, his eyes wide in surprise and his mind a mile away as it finally caught up with what had happened.

* * *

_I hope you guys enjoyed this story!_

_Reviews are very much appreciated,_  
_~Marwana_


End file.
